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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. file — a tool
  6. kid — to tease
  7. firm — steady
  8. mark — a grade
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pitch — completely
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. file — a line of people
  15. mark — a trace
  16. firm — decided
  17. chest — a box
  18. kid — child
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. firm — a company
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com